I SAID Ange Postecoglou had to be given time in the job before he can be judged but I did feel he got off to a good start with Celtic’s performance against Midtjylland on Tuesday.
I realise there will be a number of people including Celtic fans who will see a home draw as being very disappointing and I personally admit that I have made the point before that in knockout matches, the result that matters more than the performance. However, as this was Postecoglou’s first competitive match we have to look at the overall action to determine what we learned about his tactical ideas
The style of play was interesting as it showed that he certainly likes to get forward quickly with as little possession as possible in deep areas. As soon as Celtic had the ball at the back, the two full backs, Ralston and Taylor, immediately went forward into attacking areas with midfield players such as McGregor, Soro or Christie dropping back to link up with the centre backs.
This was quite adventurous and I haven’t seen any teams doing that before. Midtjylland seemed to have a problem dealing with their opponents having full backs playing practically as wingers and Celtic were certainly in command for most of the 1st half and should probably have added to their lead.
The turning point was certainly the red card received by Nir Bitton and I can imagine that Postecoglou was pretty angry with his conduct. He’s probably the most experienced player at the club, so for him to receive a red card in such a vital match for his petulant behaviour was totally irrational and certainly had an adverse effect on the match outcome for Celtic.
His opponent Dreyer, had dived, and was sent off for repeating it later in the match but Celtic were down to ten men and had to take off a forward to replace Bitton with another centre back. Eighteen year old Dane Murray came on to fill this role and new signing, Liel Abada, a nineteen year old, who had scored and was having a very good match, was taken off.
This is why it’s not unreasonable to look overall at the performance as a separate issue from the result.
The style of play, up until the sending off, was impressive and over the full 90 minutes, there were a number of outstanding displays that must have given Postecoglou a good degree of satisfaction.
Stephen Welsh was excellent at centre back and now looks very capable of holding onto his position even although Celtic have now signed Swede Carl Starfelt. His defending was excellent throughout and he was also very comfortable in possession when Celtic were building moves from the back.
The fullbacks, Ralston and Taylor fitted very well into the new system as both are very effective attacking players who can create chances with passes or crosses into the danger zones.
The midfielders all performed very well with Christie being the outstanding one. He seemed to have a free role and played with such confidence that his dribbling and link up play was actually the best I’ve seen from him. Sometimes a new manager’s ideas and instructions can bring out a new lease of life to a player and if this is case with Christie then it could be like Celtic have a new ‘playmaker’ signing.
Apart from Bitton diminishing Celtic’s domination on the night there were two other obvious disappointments.
Firstly, Edouard offered very little over the 77 minutes he was on the field. Even with the team being very fluid in possession and creating a number of scoring opportunities, Edouard didn’t contribute very much. He certainly has ability and strength and I was expecting him to get a personal boost from the changes that are materialising under the new manager. I realise Celtic had fallen away last season but he was still scoring at the same rate as in the previous treble winning seasons. Maybe he’ll come good in the coming weeks and even help Celtic qualify next week.
The other major disappointment, although perhaps not a major surprise, was the poor goalkeeping of Barkas at the Midtjylland goal. He’s not been a great signing for Celtic and has cost them a few goals in the 23 matches he’s played in. The free kick should never have gone across him into the top corner and there was certainly no excuse for his poor positioning. I’m sure Celtic will consider bringing in another keeper before the league season starts and I wouldn’t be surprised if Bain is considered for the 2nd leg in Denmark next Wednesday.
AND ANOTHER THING...
A FEW weeks ago I suggested that the clock should be stopped when the game is not in play to stop teams deliberately time wasting. My research had told me that the in-play time in most matches was actually just over thirty minutes on average.
FIFA must have read my column as this week, they are actually trialing this in an international youth tournament to see if it should be introduced to the professional game in general. Each half will be 30 minutes long which is slightly less than I suggested but it’s still good and let’s hope we see this being introduced ASAP.
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